Reporting to: Technical Director.
Working Relationships: Senior Consultant in Protected Area Management, Marine Landscape Coordinator, WCS Gabon technical teams, WCS park managers, ANPN, MINEF, DGPA, Ministry of the Sea, and other relevant government agencies.
Work Location: Libreville, with frequent field assignments in national parks, landscapes, and project sites where WCS operates in Gabon.
Position Type: Full time
Overview of the Program in Gabon:
WCS’s history in Gabon began in 1985 with the first national census of forest elephants, followed by a comprehensive assessment of conservation priorities. This work contributed to the creation of the network of 13 national parks in 2002 and subsequently to the development of the network of marine protected areas. In October 2025, WCS and the National Agency for National Parks (ANPN) signed a partnership agreement establishing a roadmap to prepare for long-term collaborative management partnerships for several parks. This roadmap includes Priority Support Projects (PSPs) designed to address urgent operational needs, strengthen management systems, and lay the technical, institutional, operational, and financial groundwork for future Collaborative Management Partnerships (CMPs). Law enforcement and wildlife crime prevention efforts are further supported by several projects and funding sources within the WCS Gabon portfolio, notably the INL project to combat wildlife trafficking and the NaturAfrica project to support protected area management. The objective is to mobilize this support within a common programmatic framework by strengthening systems, capacities, and tools that can be used sustainably by national authorities and park managers, including in the preparation of future CMPs.
Job Summary
WCS is seeking a LEM/CWT ((Law Enforcement Management/ Counter Wildlife Trafficking) Technical Advisor to strengthen protection, monitoring, and law enforcement in terrestrial and marine protected areas supported by its program, in support of the relevant government agencies and in accordance with their sovereign mandates.
As WCS’s technical lead in this field, he or she will support operational mechanisms and supervise specialized teams. Park managers retain operational control of the sites; the Senior Protected Area Management Consultant consolidates cross-cutting contributions under the supervision of the technical directorate.
He or she coordinates support from various projects to build shared and sustainable systems and capacities, and contributes to the development of new projects and funding.
At the national level, he or she monitors and supports developments in legal and institutional frameworks, particularly with regard to the CMPs and the Water and Forestry Paramilitary Corps. For targeted parks, he or she prepares LEM/CWT contributions to WCS’s internal commitment documents and to the transition to the CMPs.
Job Objectives
- Develop an LEM/CWT framework tailored to terrestrial and marine contexts, contributing to its legal and institutional evolution through technical provisions.
- Strengthen the capacities of partner government agencies, WCS teams, and park managers according to their roles and needs.
- Develop interoperable information and operational monitoring systems to support planning and decision-making.
- Improve the effectiveness of wildlife protection and anti-poaching measures at priority sites.
- Prepare the LEM/CWT component of WCS’s commitments and future CMPs, with clearly defined responsibilities, capacities, and financial needs.
Key Responsibilities
A) LEM/CWT Technical Support for Priority Sites and the PSP/CMP Process
- Assess, together with Director Conservators, WCS park managers, and relevant government agencies, LEM/CWT threats, capacities, and needs; define priorities and roadmaps for monitoring and anti-poaching programs.
- Enhance intelligence-led patrols, information collection and analysis, case management, and legal follow-up, with inter-institutional and, where relevant, cross-border coordination.
- Plan the equipment, infrastructure, logistics, and maintenance required for operations: mobility, communications, command posts and operations rooms, drones, and geospatial tools. Deploy interoperable systems, including SMART, EarthRanger, and—in marine environments—Skylight/Global Fishing Watch, in conjunction with relevant national systems.
- In northeastern Gabon, provide support in particular to the CWT coordination center in Makokou and the LEM/CWT units in Ivindo, Minkébé, and the associated landscape. Along the coast, support land, coastal, and maritime surveillance operations and, in Mayumba, the cooperation mechanisms of the Mayumba-Conkouati Transboundary Park.
- For parks participating in the PSP/CMP, prepare LEM/CWT contributions in collaboration with the senior consultant, park managers, regional WCS experts, and relevant authorities: risks, responsibilities, and chains of command; standards; investment needs and recurring costs; transition conditions; and points requiring resolution. These contributions inform the operational plans, business plans, and commitment proposals according to a shared timeline; the Technical Committee addresses review comments. Commitment decisions and institutional approvals are the responsibility of WCS and the relevant authorities, respectively.
B) LEM/CWT Structural Support at the National Level, Coordination, and Knowledge Sharing
- Organize technical reviews and exchanges between sites and with the ANPN operations center; document best practices, limitations, and cost models to identify solutions to be harmonized or scaled up nationwide.
- With the support of legal experts, competent authorities, and partners, monitor current and proposed legal and institutional frameworks; analyze their impact on the mandates, status of ecoguards and rangers, responsibilities, coordination, and governance of protected areas.
- Based on challenges documented in the field, propose improvements to the future LEM/CWT framework: rationale, options, feasibility, costs, and operational impacts. Review these with legal experts as needed and finalize them with the senior consultant for cross-cutting issues before submitting them to the authorized authorities.
- Support the updating and harmonization of LEM/CWT methods, tools, and standards used by WCS and its partners, by capitalizing on field experiences and integrating, where relevant, innovative approaches and new technologies: operational concepts, SOPs, emergency protocols, data collection and analysis systems, monitoring and decision-support tools, operations room architecture, training programs, and post-training follow-up mechanisms.
- Coordinate WCS Gabon’s LEM/CWT portfolio: supervise technical staff, consultants, and trainers; contribute to planning, budgeting, and procurement in collaboration with the Program and Finance teams, as well as to monitoring results, reporting, and funding proposals.
- Assess skills needs by function and implement the LEM/CWT component of the overall capacity-building plan consolidated by the senior consultant: training, coaching, practical exercises, and internal knowledge transfer. Integrate human rights, crime scene management, and legal procedures; evaluate learning outcomes and their application. Fleet managers organize the implementation of these practices within their teams.
Expected Results and Outputs for This Support
- Internal engagement and preparation of CMPs: LEM/CWT contribution by fleet covering the elements described in Section A, in accordance with the content and review schedule agreed upon with the Technical Directorate and the senior consultant. Internal analyses are reused and updated—where relevant—in discussions with the ANPN regarding PSPs and CMPs.
- Capacity building: initial assessment, training or coaching program and materials, review of skills acquired and applied, remaining needs, and follow-up actions, based on criteria agreed upon at the outset.
- Legal and institutional frameworks: record of current and proposed changes, analysis of implications, monitoring of system and procedure adjustments, and proposal notes for the future framework where relevant.
- Operational support and harmonization: site-specific roadmaps, updated guidelines and tools, and summaries of technical reviews and lessons learned.
Qualifications Requirements:
a) LEM/CWT expertise and protection operations
- Master’s degree (or equivalent) in conservation, natural resource management, security, criminology, law, public administration, or a related field; or demonstrated equivalent professional experience.
- Significant experience in technical management or technical assistance for law enforcement operations, protected area conservation, or combating wildlife/environmental crime; experience in Central Africa is a significant asset.
- A good understanding of chains of command, operational planning, intelligence-led patrols, case management procedures, judicial follow-up, and interagency coordination.
- Experience coordinating multi-agency operations is an advantage.
b) Information Systems and Operational Technologies
- Proficiency or solid experience with SMART and/or comparable tools; experience with EarthRanger, GIS, GPS, and communication systems is highly valued.
- Ability to transform operational data into analyses, priorities, deployment plans, and recommendations that can be used by field leaders and decision-makers.
c) Institutional Advisory Services, Planning, and Funding
- Ability to analyze organizational structures, responsibilities, staffing needs, and operational costs, and to translate these analyses into procedures, roadmaps, budgets, and realistic scenarios.
- Experience advising public administrations; ability to analyze the operational implications of legal and institutional changes in collaboration...